Winder drive



' June 9, 1959 E. D. BEACHLER WINDER DRIVE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept.26. 1955 EYZ E'NYZIF I z A 0 Z 2 4 L a fl 1 I a r F 1111 2 3 6% J ii i il i A a 1 ww w 4 an E EDWARD D. BEACHLER June 9,1959

Filed Sept. 26, 1955 E. D. BEACHLER WINDER DRIVE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IllfiWEHZZfiF EDWARD Q BEACHLER United States Patent WINDER DRIVE Edward D.Beachler, Beloit, Wis., assignor to Beloit Iron Works, Beloit, Wis., acorporation of Wisconsin Application September 26, 1955, Serial No.536,432 Claims. (Cl. 242-66) This invention relates to a machine forwinding web material, such as paper, to produce a roll of the desiredhardness irrespective of the size or weight of the roll, and moreparticularly, to an improved drum winder.

Although the invention may have application in a number of fieldsinvolving the formation of rolls of flexible sheet material, the instantinvention may be used to particular advantage in the formation of rollsof paper. In the so-called under drum winders the winding drums arepositioned so as to define a winding nip therebetween and means areprovided to guide a paper web beneath one of the winding drums and upthrough the winding nip whereat the web is wrapped around a core. Thecore with the initial wrap of web thereon rests on both of the windingdrums and the winding drums are rotated so as to rotate the core anddraw the web up through the winding nip and around the core therebybuilding up a roll of paper web on the core.

Drum winders characteristically produced wound rolls of web materialwhich increase in hardness as the weight of the roll increases and thepaper immediately adjacent the core is ordinarily only loosely wound. Inthe case of lightweight webs which are preferably wound to formrelatively soft rolls, lifting mechanism for the cores has been providedso that the full weight of the roll does not rest on the winder drums asthe roll increases in size. This, however, does not help in the case ofrolls which are to be wound reasonably tightly.

In accordance with the teachings of the instant invention, means areprovided for driving the winder drums at slightly difierent speedsduring the initial build up of the roll in order to obtain a more firmroll portion immediately adjacent the core. After the roll has built upto appreciable weight, this will serve to compact the outer wraps of webso as to make the roll firm throughout. During start up of rollformation, however, it has been found that it is important to drive thewinder drum which is not wrapped by the web (from beneath) at a slightlygreater speed than the winder drum which the web passes beneath beforecoming up through the winding nip. In this way additional tensioning ofthe paper web is effected between the point of contact with the fasterdriven winder drum and the region of contact of the web beneath theother drum. The difiiculty here is that a change must take place in thedriving of the winder drums during the windup operation so that, as thewound paper roll builds up to substantial size, the winder drums willfinally be driven at substantially the same speed. One reason for thisis that the rather great weight of the large substantially completelywound paper roll applies such forces against both of the winder drumsthat differences in peripheral speeds therebetween will result in damageto the paper roll. When the weight of the initially wound roll issmaller relative slippage between the drums and the roll can take placeto a limited extent without damaging the roll; but when the roll nearsits maximum size the frictional drag between the roll ice and the winderdrums is too great for such slippage without damage to the roll.

In view of the foregoing it is necessary to effect a change in thewinder drum speeds during the actual winding operation for each roll ofpaper.. The use of separate drives for the two drums with appropriateadjustments therebetween are not practical and a single main drivemechanism appears to be the only practical solution to this problem.Interconnecting drive mechanisms such as belts permitting slippage alsoleave something to be desired because of the typical problems whicharise from continuous slippage between parts, such as slippage betweenbelts and pulleys. The instant invention afiords a unique mechanicalconnection between the two winder drums involving a differential gearingassembly which is operated so as to effect an initial diiferentialbetween the drum speeds; but the driving control of the difierentialgearing assembly is arranged to yield to the driving effect provided bythe increased size of the paper roll, when the size of the paper roll issuch that differences in speed between the winder drums becomeimpractical or harmful to the paper roll.

It is, therefore, an important object of the instant invention toprovide an improved winder machine.

It is a further object of the instant invention to provide'an improveddrive mechanism for a winder machine whereby desired differences inwinder drum speeds may be obtained during an initial phase of rollbuildup and such diiferentials in winder drum speed may be eliminatedduring the final phases of roll buildup, all by automatic operation ofthe drive mechanism.

Other and further objects, features and advantages of the instantinvention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from thefollowing detailed disclosure thereof and the drawings attached heretoand made a part hereof.

On the drawings:

Figure 1 is essentially a diagrammatic view in elevation of a drumwinder during the initial phases of roll windup;

Figure 2 is another diagrammafical view of the drum winder of Figure 1,showing the winder during the final stages of roll buildup;

Figure 3 is a top plan view with parts shown in section of a drivemechanism embodying the instant invention; and

Figure 4 is a top plan view, with parts shown in section, of anotherdrive mechanism embodying the instant invention.

As shown on the drawings:

In Figures 1 and 2, an underdrum winder machine, indicated generally bythe reference numeral 10, is shown. The machine 10 comprises a firstunderwinder drum 11 and a second underwinder drum 12 defining a windingnip N therebetween. The winder drums 11 and 12 are aligned in generallyparallel relationship, or generally horizontal alignment and spaced onlyslightly therefrom so as to permit the web W to pass freely up throughthe winding nip N. The web W travels from a suitable source throughguide means, or under a guide roll 13, over a guide roll 14, and over atensioning shoe 15, until the web reaches the second winder drum 12. Theweb W then passes beneath the second winder drum 12 following thesurface thereof up through the winder nip N and then over the top of thecore C, or the roll R of web already wrapped around the core C.

As shown in Figure 1, the core C has only a small roll R formed thereon.In Figure 2, the core C has a large roll R of paper wrapped thereabout.

During the initial windup shown in Figure 1, the weight of the roll R isquite smalland the paper wraps initially applied to the core and to thesmall roll R tend to be rather loose. Accordingly, the first drum 11 isdriven at a speed greater than the speed of the second drum 12. Thedrums 11 and 12 are ordinarily of the same size, but it is theperipheral or surface speed of the drum 11 which is greater than theperipheral speed of the drum'1 2 during'theinitial phases of windup.This serves to tension the web from the point of contact 16 between the"drum 11 and the roll Rand perhaps the initial point of contact 17between the web W and the second drum 12, orat least between thefirstpolnt of contact 16 and a point of contact 18 at which the Web Wleaves the surface of the second drum 12. In any event, this tensioningeffect serves to build up a harder paper roll R during the initialphases of roll buildup.

When the paper roll finally reaches a substantlal size, such as the rollR of Figure 2, the weight of the paper roll R is applied at the pointsof contact 16 and 18 between the roll R and the drums 11 and 12,respectively; and this weight is very substantial so that the frictionalengagement between the roll R and the drums 11 and 12 is: appreciable.In this situation, if the drum 11 was to be driven at a speed greaterthan the speed 'of the drum 12, injury of the paper on the outer surfaceof the roll R would be caused at the points 16 and/or 18. In thepractice of the instant invention, the drive mechanism here provided forcausing the drum 11 to rotate at a speed greater than the drum 12 yieldsto the frictional forces created between the roll R and the drums 11 and12 to the extent that the torque imparted by the drive mechanism to thedrum 11, which in turn is imparted to the drum 12 to the roll R, issufficiently great to overcome the torque tending to drive the roll12'at a different speed. Of course the drive mechanism of the instantinvention can be arranged so that the main drive is connected to thesecond drum 12 and the effect of the roll R serves to overcome thesecondary torque tending to drive the roll 11 at a different speed.

' Referring to Figures 3, it will be seen that the winder drums 11 and12 are shown only partially in plan view, with certain other parts showndiagrammatically. The winder drum 11 has a stub shaft 20 extendingtherefrom through a suitable bearing 21 (shown diagrammatically) to acoupling 22, whereat it is corotatably connected to a drive shaft 23directly connected to main drive means 24, shown here in the form of anelectric motor. The main drive means '24 imparts'a substantial amount oftorque to the drum 11 so as to rotate the drum 11 at a predeterminedspeed during the entire roll buildup. This speed is faster than thespeed of the drum 12 during initial roll buildup by virtue of themechanismwhich will be described contained within a housing outlined indotted lines and indicated generally by the reference numeral 25, butthe driving eifect of the mechanism within the housing 25 is ultimatelyovercome by the frictional engagement between the roll R of substantialsize and the drums 11 and 12, so that the driving torque imparted to thedrumll by the main drive mechanism 24 is ultimately imparted also to thesecond drum 12 'through the large paper roll R (which functions almostas a gear in view of the substantial frictional engagement therebetween)Referring now to the mechanism within the housing 25, it will be seenthat a gear 26 corotatably mounted on the drive shaft 23 is meshed witha second gear 27 (carried on ashaft 28) which in turn is meshed with agear 29 corotatably mounted on a shaft 30.

The shaft 30 also carries a (beveled) pinion 31 corotatably mountedthereon. The pinion 31 is, of course, in driven connection with the maindrive mechanism 24 through the gears 26, 27 and 29, and the shaft 30. Itwill be. appreciated that bearings for the shafts 23, 28 and 30 havebeen omitted from the drawing for the purpose of simplifying thedrawing.

The pinion 31 is the first of three rotary gear elements which cooperateto define a differential gearing assembly. The other two elements are a(beveled) pinion gear 32 opposed to the pinion gear 31 and a planetarygear housing or frame 33, here shown as a T-shaped member having(beveled) pinion gears 33a and 33b meshing with the pinion gears 31 and32. The planetary pinion gears 33a and 3312 are mounted at theextremities of the arms: of the T-shaped member 33 which is corotatablyconnected to the stem. of the T-shaped member 33 which forms a rotatableshaft 34. The pinion gear 32 opposed to the first mentioned pinion gear31 is corotatably mounted on a sleeve 35 which carries a plain or spurgear 36 corotatably thereon. The sleeve 35 is freely rotatable on theshaft 34, so that when the shaft 34 is held against rotation, rotationof the first mentioned pinion 33 eifects rotation in the oppositedirection of the opposed pinion 32, via the planetary pinions 33a and33b, which in turn effects rotation of the sleeve 35 and gear 36 mountedthereon. The gear 36 is meshed with a gear 37 on a drive shaft 38. Thedrive shaft 38 is connected by a coupling 39 to a stub shaft 40 on thesecond drum 12 (suitably mounted in bearings 42 shown diagrammatically).It will thus be seen that the second opposed pinion 32 is in drivingconnection with the second drum 12 through the sleeve 35, gears 36 and37, and the drive shaft 38.

As will be appreciated, if the planetary pinions 33a and 33b are heldagainst rotation about the shaft 34 (although freely rotatable about thearms 34a) the input to the first pinion 31 is transmitted directly tothe opposed pinion 32 and, using properly sized gears throughout themechanism, the rate of speed at which the first drum 11 is rotated willbe the same as the rate of speed at which the second drum 12 is rotated.In the instant differential gearing assembly 31, 3'2, 33, the rotarygear element 33 is the control element, and rotation of the shaft 34carrying the control element 33 in one direction serves to impart agreater speed to the pinion 32 than the driven speed of the pinion 31,while rotation of the shaft 34 in the opposite direction will impart aslower speed to the pinion 32 than that of the driven pinion 31. Theshaft 34 carrying the control element 33 is actuated by a corotatablymounted gear 43', which meshes with a smaller gear 42 corotatablymounted with a gear 44 on another shaft 45. The gear 44 meshes with'adriving gear 46 directly connected to an auxiliary drive means 47, hereshown as a small motor.

It will be appreciated that, in the operation of the differentialgearing assembly 31, 32, 33, the control element 33 has torque appliedthereto. This torque may be merely that sufiicient to hold the shaft 34against rotation, or the torque may be sufiicient to rotate'the shaft 34in either direction. In any event the torque thus applied afifordsthe'variable control for driving the second drum 12. It willbe'appreciated that the remaining gears in'the connection between themain drive shaft 23 and the secondary drive shaft 38 for the second drum12 afford no variation in torque or speed except through the torqueapplied to the control element 33, assuming the gear sizes to remainfixed in each case. The torqueapplylng means (in this case the motor 47)thus applies torque to the control element 33 to impart to the secondelement or pinion 32 a driving torque which must, as has been explained,be yieldable to the driving torque applied to the first drum 11. Orexpressed in other terms, the torque-applying means 47 imparts to thecontrol element 33 a torquewhich, in turn, imparts a driving torque tothe second drum 12, via the differential gear assembly 31, 32, 33. iThis torque imparted to the second drum 12 is yieldable to the torqueimparted to the first drum 11 and does, in fact, yield thereto when thesize and weight of the paper roll R becomes so great that the frictionalefiiect amounts to a substantially direct mechanical driving connectionbetween the first drum 11 and the second drum 12. This is made possibleby the use of a small D.C. motor 47, but it may also be I made possibleby the use of braking mechanism, such as a hydraulic brake, or bygenerators in place of the motor 47. The essential feature is thatmechanism must be provided for applying torque to the control element33, either as positive or negative torque; and the torque thus appliedis yieldable to the torque ultimately applied to the second drum 12through the large sized paper roll R. The torque applied to the controlelement 33 can, of course, be varied to suit particular operations, oreven varied easily during the wind up of an individual roll, although anadvantageous feature of the instant invention provides for automaticoperation whereby the torque thus applied is overcome at the desiredroll weight and size.

Referring now to Figure 4, it will be seen that a somewhat diiferentdifferential gearing assembly arrangement is shown. The first winderdrum 111 and the second winder drum 112 are shown only partially in planview. The first winder drum 111 has a stub shaft 51 suitably carried inbearings 52 (shown diagrammatically) and connected through a coupling 53to a drive shaft 54 carried on bearings 55 and 56.

Main drive mechanism 57 is provided in the form of a motor (although itwill be appreciated that any other type of drive mechanism such as acombustion engine, etc. may be used) and the drive mechanism 57 isconnected to a driven shaft 58. The driven shaft 58 is carried bybearings 60 and 61 and corotatably mounts a sleeve 62 carrying a spurgear 63 which meshes with a spur gear 64 corotatably mounted on thefirst drum drive shaft 54. In this manner, the main drive mechanismdrives the first drum 111 at a desired speed.

The sleeve 62 corotatably mounted on the main drive shaft 58 carries asun gear 65. An opposed sun gear 66 is carried on a second sleeve 67that is freely rotatable on the main drive shaft 58. The third elementof the instant differential gearing assembly is a cage 67a rotatable onbearings 68 about the shaft 58 and carrying freely rotatable planetarygears 69 which mesh with both of the sun gears 65 and 66. The cage 67acarries peripheral gear teeth 70 which mesh with a gear 71 on anauxiliary torque-applying shaft 72 carried by bearings 73 and 74. Theshaft 72 is controlled by any of the previously mentionedtorque-applying devices, but in this case by means of a drive unit P inthe form of cone pulleys P-l (on the shaft 58) and P-Z (on the shaft 72)interconnected by on adjustable belt B. The freely rotatable sleeve 67carrying the sun gear 66 also carries a spur gear 80 which is meshedwith a gear 81 corotatably carried on a drive shaft 82. The drive shaft82 is mounted on bearings 83 and 84 and is connected through a coupling85 to a stub shaft 86 directly connected to the second drum 112 (andcarried on a bearing 87).

It should be further noted that only a slight speed differential(relative to the speed of rotation of the rolls) is required to obtainthe proper tensioning or compacting of the web in the roll R, and thepower applied or absorbed by the control element in the differentialgearing arrangement of the invention bears substantially the same ratioto the total power required to drive the speed controlled roll as thespeed differential bears to the speed of the speed controlled roll,neglecting friction in the gearing assembly. Accordingly, thecontrolling element, in this case the unit P or the small motor 47, maybe very small in size and power and readily controlled. If a separatespeed controlled prime mover were used in conjunction with the primemover for the speed controlled roll, such would have to be large in sizeand difiicult to control.

It will be understood that modifications and variations may be effectedwithout departing from the spirit and scope of the novel concepts of thepresent invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a winder machine in which a web is formed into a wound roll, afirst underwinder drum and a second underwinder drum defining a windingnip to support the wound roll therebetween, and means for driving saiddrums at relative rotational speeds such that there is a differential inthe peripheral speeds of the drums in the initial stages of theformation of the wound roll with such speed differential being decreasedas the size of the wound roll increases, said driving means comprising:main drive means, means connecting said main drive means to said firstdrum, a differential gearing assembly having three rotary elements, thefirst of said elements being connected to said main drive means, thesecond of said elements being connected to said second drum, the thirdof said elements being a control element, and rotatable driven meansapplying torque to said control element in a direction to tend to drivethe same at a speed such as to establish a differential in theperipheral speeds of said drums.

2. In a winder machine, a first underwinder drum and a secondunderwinder drum defining therebetween a winding nip, a main driveimparting a predetermined torque to said first drum to rotate the same,a first rotary gear element in driven connection with said main drive, asecond rotary gear element in driving connection with said second drum,a control rotary gear element arranged with said first and secondelements to define a differential gearing assembly, and rotatable drivenmeans applying torque to said control element to impart to said secondelement a driving torque less than said predetermined torque tending tocreate a speed differential between said drums.

3. In a winder machine, a first underwinder drum and a secondunderwinder drum defining therebetween a winding nip, a main driveimparting a predetermined torque to said first drum to rotate the same,a first rotary gear element in driven connection with said main drive, asecond rotary gear element in driving connection with said second drum,a control rotary gear element arranged with said first and secondelements to define a differential gearing assembly, and rotatable drivenmeans applying torque to said control element to impart, via saiddifferential gear assembly, to said second drum a driving torque lessthan said predetermined torque tending to create a speed differentialbetween said drums.

4. In a winder machine, a first underwinder drum and a secondunderwinder drum defining therebetween a winding nip, means guiding apaper web beneath one of said drums and up through the nip to be woundaround a core resting in the nip, a shaft rotatably mounting said firstdrum, a motor connected to said shaft imparting a predetermined torqueto said first drum to rotate the same, a first rotary gear element indriven connection with said shaft, a second rotary gear element indriving connection with said second drum, a control rotary gear elementarranged with said first and second elements to define a differentialgearing assembly, and a secondary motor driving said control element toimpart, via said second element to said second drum a driving torqueless than said predetermined torque, tending to create a speeddifferential between said drums.

5. In a winder machine in which a web formed into a wound roll, a firstunderwinder drum and a second underwinder drum defining a winding nip tosupport the wound roll therebetween, and means for driving said drums atrelative rotational speeds such that there is a differential in theperipheral speeds of the drums in the initial stages of the formation ofthe wound roll with such speed differential being decreased as the sizeof the wound roll increases, said driving means comprising: main drivemeans, means connecting said main drive means to said first drum, adifferential gearing assembly having three rotary elements, the first ofsaid elements being connected to said main drive means, the second ofsaid elements being connected to said second drum, the

7 8 third of said elements being a control element, and rotateffectsdirect mechanical driving connection between the able means applyingtorque to said control element in t an 's ond drumsa direction to tendto drive the same at a speed such as to establish a diiferential in theperipheral speeds of said drums, the torque applied to said second drumby said 5 References Cited in the file of this patent V 'UNITED STATESPATENTS difierential gearing assembly being overcome by the 1,266,942Hendfirson y 21, 1918 torque applied to said first drum by said maindrive 1 3 MPBanl 1932 means when the Wound roll reaches such size thatit Klmpton et 1935 2389,047 Heinz Nov. 13, 1945

